The four main themes of the 2019 fiscal year report from the Dallas County Health Department are:
- Live Healthy
- Keep Healthy
- Assistance to Residents
- Partnerships in the Community
You can read the full report online, and printed copies are available in public libraries.
Your Dallas County Health Department encourages healthy living through programs such as the pop-up produce stands that bring fresh fruits and vegetables to small towns lacking a grocery store. The produce is sold at wholesale prices.
Both the public health and environmental health branches of the department oversee a great variety of areas to keep us all healthy. This includes testing private wells, inspecting pools for cleanliness and safety, providing publicly funded immunizations and investigating reports of infectious diseases.
The Health Navigation program provides assistance to any resident of Dallas County. We assisted 603 individuals during fiscal year 2019. Despite the perception that we live in an affluent county, the greatest needs identified by the health navigators were food insecurity, health insurance and housing. The fourth most frequent need was related to mental health.
The Dallas County Health Department collaborates with multiple community led groups, schools, faith-based organizations and privately owned institutes to bring about systemic changes for the good of all.
The goals of your health department are driven by a Community Health Needs Assessment. You are invited to help determine the focus of the department in the coming three-year cycle by taking our brief online survey.
Ann Cochran is the health navigation coordinator in the Dallas County Public Health Department.
